Improvement in railway-car buffers



P. E. D RAK'E.

Railway Car-Buier` 910,163,165, Patented May11,1875.

@am A THE GRAPHIC CILPHOTO -LITH39&4Y PARK PCLNJI.

PRINCE E. DRAKE, OF BELLE EWAR'I, CANADA.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILWAY-CAR BUFFERS.

Specication forming part of Lttters Patent No. 163,l65, dated May 11, 1875 application iled January 18, 1875.

To all whom it may concer-n:

Be it known that I, P. E. DRAKE, of the village of Belle Ewart, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in RailWayC-ar Bners, of which the following is a specilication:

My invention relates more particularly to improvements in the construction of buffers for railway passenger-cars; and it consists in the application of an outward pushing-pressure to an ordinary buii'er-head (havinga stem or tail passing back underneath the carplat form) by the agency of compressed air, either acting directly on a piston attached to the buffer-stem and inclosed in a suitable cylinder or communicated by a system of levers and rods from a piston operated by compressed air in a cylinder placed in any convenient position under the car, the object being, first, to render the connection between cars, when coupled7 as rigid as possible to reduce oscillation, and, second, to enable a varying pressure to be applied to the buffer-heads to suit the varying requirements of the line of theA road.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a partial bottom view of a car, to which my improved buffer is shown as applied, the aircylinder being placed underneath the body of the car, and the connection to the buffers at each end made by rod-and-lever connections. Fig. 2 is a section of the same. Fig. 3 shows the buffer operated by a piston attached to the stem workin g in a suitable air chamber or cylinder. Fig. 4 is a detail of the buffer-head.

A is a skeleton body of a passen ger-car of the usual construction looked at from below. A is the platform 5 B,the buffer with the usual head, and having a stem, B1, passing back underneath the platform-timbers. B2 is a volute spring encircling the front portion of the buffer-stem, and conned in a fixed position by the framing of the platform. The duty of this spring consists, rst, in keeping the buffer forced out a suitable distance when the cars are uncoupled, in order to receive the shock of coupling 5 and, second, to retain a certain amount of compression on the buffers when the air-pressure is not in use. C is the coupling-hook. E is the compressedair cylinder, which receives compressed air through the pipes H from any convenient source. Within this cylinder, Fig. l, is contained a piston, E, mounted on a rigid piston-rod, F, which has bearings in each cylinder-cover. To onel end of the piston-rod the tension-rod D is connected, to the other end the pivoted lever Gr. The rod D is attached to one arm of the pivoted lever D, which is connected at the other end with the buffer-stem B. G is the tension-rod, connected to the lever G, and operating the buffer in a similar manner at the other end of the car.

The operation of this mechanism is as follows: Compressed air is admitted to the cylinder E on one side of the piston through the pipe h from the main distributingpipe H, which runs the whole length of the train. The piston is forced forward in the direction shown by single-headed arrows, drawing the rods D and G toward the center of the car with a force that is regulated by the condensation of the air, and forcing the bu'ers out by means of the connecting pivoted levers D. This primary air force may be increased to almost any extent before it is applied to the bni'ers by a suitable compound lever arrangement 5 but it is thought that the proportion of the arms of the simple lever D will develop and transmit sufcient power for all practical purposes at small cost.

In Fig. 3 the buffer is operated directly by the compressed air acting on a piston, E', attached to the bilder-stem B1, and workin g in a suitable air-chamber, E.

In Fig. 4 is shown a buffer which has a detachable head, B3.

Any one who is conversant with the working of railways must have observed how quickly the buffer-heads wear away under constant service. With the ordinary style of buffer, each time the head wears away, the whole buffer has to be taken out and a new one put in. My improvement then has for its object the saving of the majority of this expense by requiring the substitution of a new head only at each change.

Where practicable, I propose to avail myself of the presence and co-operation of existing mechanisms for the supply of compressed airsuch as the Westinghouse and Ward air-brake pump and air-reservoir, but using a separate air-conducting` pipe leading` from the main reservoir, the admission and discharge ot' air being completely under the control of the engineer or conductor of the train.

When these systems do not exist, or when for any reason they cannot be attached to cars, any suitable air-pump With an air-reservoir Will be used from which to obtain the necessary compressed air; but it is obvious that it Will be to the advantage of railway companies to Work their air-brake system. and compressed buffersin combination. Further, when desired, the same outward pushing force can be given to the buffers by producing a vacuum in the cylinder E on one side of the pis- Y Y YVtonhwhiehr, Will then travel by the pressure of the atmosphere, Working substantially the same as When operated by compressed air.

The principal advantages gained by my invention are, first, oscillation of the cars is reducel to a minimum 5 second, the pressure on the buffers can be varied to suit the curvature of the line-that is, if the train is running on a tangent, the pressure can be increased, drawing the cars rigidly together, and enabling better running time to be made. In running around curves the pressure can be reduced to allow more flexibility to the train, the slack being taken up as desired.

I claim as my invention- The air-cylinder E, with piston E and piston-rod F, operated by compressed air in the manner described, in combination With the lever Gr, rod G', rod D', pivoted levers D, and bui'ers B, arranged and operating substantially as herein set forth.

Witnesses Y JNo. W. H. WILsoN WILSON B. Soor'r, JN0. SrEvENsoN.

i P. E. BRAKE. 

